Local high school opens Bank In School program

 

March 1, 2010 - Wilmington Trust, Delaware’s leading retail and commercial bank, announced today the opening of the Appoquinimink School District’s Bank In School program, an innovative partnership between the bank and the school district aimed at giving students a fuller understanding of the fundamentals of banking, money management, and the financial industry.

 

The Bank In School program will be located at Appoquinimink High School in Middletown, Delaware and includes a bank-like facility run by students with teacher oversight that will initially maintain savings accounts for students. The Bank In School program is part of the high school’s focus on providing real world career paths as part of its curriculum. As students confidently grow into their banker roles, and as the curriculum expands, it is the goal of the Bank In School program to increase its product offerings to include checking accounts and credit products.

 

“This new program at Appoquinimink High School gives students hands-on experience and furthers our commitment to providing them with tools that will help them make informed financial decisions in all stages of their lives,” said Rebecca A. DePorte, senior vice president and head of Wilmington Trust’s Personal Financial Services department.

 

Wilmington Trust is involved in a number of organizations and programs promoting financial education in Delaware. In 1992 Wilmington Trust helped begin the Delaware Bank At School program, a pioneering partnership among the Delaware Money School, the Delaware Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, the Delaware Bankers Association, and state government. Through this statewide program local Wilmington Trust branch staff regularly visit each participating school before classes start or during lunch to collect deposits for students who have opened savings accounts. Wilmington Trust currently works with 22 schools throughout Delaware.

 

Wilmington Trust staff members also take part in the American Bankers Association Education Foundation’s annual Teach Children to Save Day, which is scheduled this year for April 27. Through its work with the Wilmington-based community group West End Neighborhood House, Wilmington Trust also provides financial education and referrals to support services for clients of several loan programs including Loans Plus, which offers an alternative to the high-cost practice known as payday lending.

A recent study conducted by the University of Arizona and funded by the National Endowment for Financial Education, Arizona Pathways for Life Success in University Students, examined financial attitudes and behaviors – and the forces that drive them – in youth ages 18 to 25. Results of the study’s first year found that nearly 73% of the more than 2,000 students surveyed have resorted to at least one “risky” financial behavior, such as maxing out credit card limits or not paying bills on time. Nearly one in five of those surveyed had used payday loans or used one credit card to pay another. In an executive summary of findings, the study’s authors suggest that education – not just in teen years, but at earlier ages, as well – plays an important role in augmenting what parents teach their children about financial knowledge and money management. The research highlights the need for partnerships between parents, schools, and the marketplace to help children and young adults develop positive financial attitudes and behaviors.

 

Wilmington Trust Corporation (NYSE: WL) is a financial services holding company that provides Regional Banking services throughout the mid-Atlantic region, Wealth Advisory services to high-net-worth clients in 36 countries, and Corporate Client services to institutional clients in 89 countries. Its wholly owned bank subsidiary, Wilmington Trust Company, which was founded in 1903, is one of the largest personal trust providers in the United States and the leading retail and commercial bank in Delaware. Wilmington Trust Corporation and its affiliates have offices in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, the Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, London, Dublin, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, and Amsterdam.

 

The new bank at Appoquinimink High School is the first time Wilmington Trust has opened a student-operated branch in New Castle County.